Tuesday

Mar 24, 2015 at 11:29 PMMar 24, 2015 at 11:29 PM

Swampscott’s Thomas Smith knows the pain of traumatic injury and the shock and despondency that comes with hearing that you might not walk again.

It’s a situation faced by thousands nationwide and tens of thousands worldwide. Smith wants to do what he can, after twice breaking vertebrae and still not having full feeling in parts of his body, to help doctors and researchers fight paralysis.

With that cause in mind, Smith, friends and supporters will climb onto bicycles and into support vehicles for the first Reality Ride Challenge (realityridechallenge.org) to raise money for the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, which helped Smith walk and ride a bike again.

Over 40 days, Smith and fellow riders will ride from Boston (he started at TD Garden on Wednesday, March 25) to Miami, Fla. Of the 40 days, 31 will be spent riding with days for rests and functions along the way.

On those 31 riding days, Smith himself will ride a modified bicycle 65 miles and a handcycle (in which the hands turn the pedals) 3 miles each day. He’ll also walk 1 mile each of these days. The Reality Ride Challenge will make stops along the way for functions with supporters including NHL teams the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals.

Smith founded the Thomas E. Smith Foundation not long after his second hockey accident while a member of the Boston Junior Bulldogs in 2009. In both this accident, and in his 2008 accident, he broke different vertebrae. If that wasn’t enough, he and his father were involved in a serious car accident in January 2010, which caused Thomas to “lose everything I gained from 2009 to 2010.”

Eventually, Smith rose from the wheelchair to walk regularly with a walker, then braces and now with a cane. In order to do the bike ride, he has a modified bicycle that features a large mirror attached to rods over the front wheel as well as other modifications.

“It has different weighted points. I lack a lot of feeling in my hips, so it allows me to put a lot of my weight on my hands, and the pedals are adjusted. The right foot is always strapped onto the pedal, because my left leg is my dominant leg,” Thomas said. “This was the only way for me to be able to ride a bike.”

Looking Up a way to help

To do his part to help others avoid his fate, he developed the Look-Up Line, an orange 12-foot line coming off the boards of hockey rinks around the entire inside perimeter. It is intended for hockey players to pick their heads up when chasing pucks to the boards to avoid bad checks from behind, and to alert other players to avoid checking prone players from behind.

“The Look-Up Line is a preventative approach, and that has really gained international attention,” said Smith. “But I wanted to help researchers try to find a cure for paralysis, and I know bike challenges have proven very successful. I thought ‘Why not ride a bike from Boston to Miami?’”

He will be joined for the duration of the ride by one of his closest friends, Teague Egan, who owns the company that is the presenting sponsor of the Reality Ride Challenge, 1st Round Apparel.

“Teague has been one of my best friends. For someone like himself, who runs a major company, to do this ride — riding all day and answering phone calls and e-mails at night — is a huge commitment,” said Smith.

Egan also set up Smith’s appearance at the March 22 Boston Celtics game, where he was honored as part of the Celtics’ Heroes Among Us halftime program. After all, it is from the Celtics’ and Boston Bruins’ doorstep that he’ll be starting his 2,100-mile journey.

“It was awesome,” Smith said of the Celtics’ gesture. “You get there and you don’t feel like you deserve it. There are so many people who have received this honor before you. You’re truly humbled and honored, never mind having a night dedicated to you.”

For someone who wasn’t walking five years ago, this journey represents a huge progression — one he feels was necessary, considering his athletic background.

“Around Christmastime 2012, when I went to a walker and then later to a walking cane, I thought, ‘Could I be an athlete again, an active athlete?’” Smith recalled. “It took me about a year for me to learn how to ride a bike again. My legs weren’t where they needed to be.”

Last summer and fall, he continued to work with the idea of a long bike ride in mind, and then in November, they set the date — March 25.

“It works well, because it’ll end between May 2 and 4, and then I can get back to Boston and get back to work having to do with the Look-Up Line,” Smith added.

Bon voyage

It was expected to be a gala ceremony on March 25, one of the warmer days in an otherwise frosty March.

“Bob Sweeney, the president of the Boston Bruins Foundation, will be there. WCVB Channel 5 will be covering it and J.C. Monahan will be riding with us. Jenny Johnson from NESN is going to start the ride with us, as well,” Smith said.

There are many stops planned along the way, including the aforementioned stops on Long Island and in the nation’s capital.

“We’ll be covering a lot of territory and we’ll be doing interviews with the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals when we get to their [state and district],” said Smith. “We’re also stopping at different military forts to talk about paralysis.

“We really want to use this ride as a beacon for paralysis and the Miami Project,” said Smith.

The Miami Project and the Buoniconti Fund, which assists the Miami Project in its mission, are the direct beneficiaries of funds raised through the Reality Ride Challenge. As of late on March 24, more than $16,000 had already been raised before a single pedal rotation was made.

“No medical center offering this center’s specialized treatment for patients like myself existed in New England. In fact, the local doctors already discussed with my family and me my preparation for life in a wheelchair.

“I had a daily routine,” Thomas wrote. “I drove one hour [Delray Beach to Miami] to therapy, spent three to four hours doing intense therapy, drove one hour back to Delray Beach, did an aquatic therapy routine for two hours in my brother’s pool, and then went to the local Gold’s Gym for two more hours to work on my balance and strength.

“By the end of the day, I was exhausted. However, because of this rigorous routine, I was able to regain my walking, limbs and movement. The doctors told me I would take years to recover, if recovery occurred at all. I arrived in Miami on October 25, 2008; I left Dec. 22, 2008,” he added.

Smith knows that 40 days is a huge commitment, so he welcomes friends, family and anyone he knows who wants to ride, to join him as much as possible.

“We’ll have at least 50 people, and in parts 100, riding with us. Some people just want to ride a day when we come to North Carolina, for instance,” said Smith. “Josh Rosenthal, a veteran from the National Guard, is riding with us for a portion. His brother has been paralyzed since he was injured in an ATV accident at age 13. Josh helped me into the Miami Project.”

The main riding team will be followed by an RV that will be their sleeping place each night. It will also be operations central for the outreach effort.

“We’ll be doing daily videos about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” Smith said. “We need people to donate. With the FDA approvals happening, we can eradicate these kinds of injuries — not just paralysis, but diabetes, multiple sclerosis. All of this stuff that correlates to cells. By donating to us, and supporting us, you’ll be fighting a multitude of injuries, illnesses and conditions.”

Seven years ago, a teenager from Swampscott wanted to be a professional hockey player. His life changed in an instant — then changed and changed again. It’s more of a common story than you might expect.

“People don’t think of this stuff until it happens,” Smith said.

He hopes his journey from hospital bed back onto his feet, and now from Boston to Miami, will shine a light on helping those not so fortunate to rise up and take that first miraculous step.

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